Want to become a boss at social selling? Our guest, David (D. Fish) Fisher, has a wealth of knowledge about building successful social selling programs — and he’s here to spill the secrets that the LinkedIn experts won’t.

In this episode, Global Social Selling Lead at SAS, David (D. Fish) Fisher, shares the importance of building a targeted and relevant network on LinkedIn rather than focusing on having a large number of followers. Then, we discuss the challenges of building a social selling program within a large organization, setting realistic expectations for social media engagement, and the unsexy, but crucial, work that ensures long-term success in business.

Here are the key takeaways from our conversation with David: 

1. Understand social selling: Reach the right audience through social media. If you’re not targeting relevant people, your outreach won’t have much return. Turn silent observers into high-intent leads by using language that resonates with a smaller group. 
2. Ensure long-term success: While creating content for sellers to post on LinkedIn is important, David highlights the often overlooked tasks, such as setting goals, creating effective dashboards, and optimizing LinkedIn profiles.
3. Focus on the basics: Find individuals with the right mindset and empower them to be examples for others. David also stresses the significance of capturing success stories and understanding the qualitative aspects of social selling.

Jump into the conversation: 

[05:00] The importance of building a network of relevant connections

[07:40] How to engage with people who are lurking and just reading content

[08:19] How to set realistic expectations for social media engagement 

[17:00] Why you should speak in terms that are relevant to sellers 

[24:08] The importance of "unsexy" work for long-term success 

[30:46]: Heather and Steve’s takeaways from the conversation

Continue the conversation with these resources: 

• Get one of David’s bestselling books. Networking in the 21st Century on Linkedin is particularly applicable to today’s episode. 
• Read this blog on how to incorporate social selling into your sales process. 
• Watch this on-demand webinar on building trust and engagement with social selling. (P.S. It features someone you might be familiar with — our host and resident social selling expert, Steve Watt.) 
• Join the best and brightest go-to-market leaders at Shift, Seismic’s annual user conference. Join Go-to-Market Magic there October 23-26 in San Diego, CA. 
• And finally, see how Seismic helps sellers engage across digital channels in this short and sweet video.